Another Secret: "Forget About It"

Every day you hear talk about sending your goals out into the universe and they will manifest themselves–with your thoughts acting as a catalyst for the universe to create your destiny. (Okay, I simplify that a little bit).

“Thought = creation. If these thoughts are attached to powerful emotions (good or bad) that speeds the creation” (The Secret)

But I have discovered that the opposite might also be true.

I find that often, when I have a more laissez-faire or que sera sera attitude toward something, then it  manifests itself more easily. Or maybe, when I don’t stress about something, I simply convey more confidence as Caitlin over at Broadside wrote about yesterday.

Allow me to demonstrate. When I was a child I always wanted to be an actress. Not just an actress, I wanted the lead. Now, while I often got cast, it was usually in a character role instead of the dream role. (I have since learned the joy of character parts, but that’s beside the point). Part of the problem came from me wanting those leads SO MUCH that I stressed over auditions, and never felt that I nailed them. Not once. This anxiety took over so much that I actually chickened out of auditioning in college, and never tried again until many years later.

This week the Neewollah committee held  auditions for next October’s Neewollah musical. Neewollah (Halloween spelled backward) is THE event in this town, and the musical is truly a community endeavor, and from what I hear a pretty good one. I’ve only seen one of them and it had its ups and downs, but spectacular sets and great singing. Anyway, this year the musical is Willy Wonka. My daughter, who will be in her first musical this summer, decided she would like to audition.

Since the unknown is unknown and the life we have dreamed about has yet to manifest, we decided why not? After all, the more interesting and fun activities we fill our time with, the better our time here will be. So, for that reason I decided to audition as well.

I went into those auditions for the fun of it, and for the first time in a long time I nailed it. I got a call-back, and again I wasn’t really worried about it. I went in to have fun, and I think I nailed that too. The cast list isn’t up yet (and of course I’m not up for a lead). It will be posted on Friday. But whether I get the role I would like or not, that doesn’t matter. I had a really good audition.

See what I mean? Often when I allow myself to stress and plan and REALLY want something, I end up crashing, burning, or just getting hurt. But when I simply accept where I am at the moment, and do things with joy and spontaneity forgetting about the goals or dreams, strange things happened. It happened that way when I met Nathan. It happened that way for some of the projects I’ve enjoyed the most. It happens that way often in my life.

I’m not saying that I will completely stop putting the thought out in the world, but maybe now I just have to think it and then “Forget About It,”

Which one works in your world, The Secret  or Forget About It?

Maybe the real answer lies in a “world of pure imagination.”